


Reverse

by MarvelMaree



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 03:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19454962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarvelMaree/pseuds/MarvelMaree
Summary: To what lengths will one go when she loses the love of her life?





	Reverse

**Author's Note:**

> I almost died writing this lol 
> 
> Warnings: a few cuss words, implied smut if you squint and turn your screen upside down, and I think that’s it…
> 
> Things to know: Shuri lives as she should have, Bucky is confident, Reader is confident, umm… that’s it???

You stood in front of your mirror dreading that you had agreed to go to this party. If it were up to you, you would be home, curled up on your couch watching _The Office_ for the 100th time. But you had made a promise, and you always kept your word… Well, you tried to. Taking another glance at your watch, you groaned, grabbed your clutch, and headed towards the door.

Your best friend, Kenna, was Pepper Potts’s assistant, so whenever they had a party, she invited you. This one though, she told you that under no circumstances were you allowed to miss it. And if need be, she would call a certain super soldier by the name of Steve Rogers to come and get you. You’d laughed at the threat, thinking it an empty one. That is until you got a call from said super soldier reminding you that you needed to be at this party. He reminded you that you hadn’t been to the last few parties, so you grumbled and promised that you would be there.

Your friendship with Steve was stronger than your friendships with the other Avengers. That was something that Kenna used to her advantage when she wanted you to come to a party.

Steve reminded you of your older brother in the way he would act around you. He was always near you when you were at Stark Tower making sure you weren’t bothered by anyone. He made sure that you were safe and often drove you home when you were too tired to drive yourself. He teased you more than the others did. He watched over you as if you were his sister and you were very grateful for him.

The ride to the party was uneventful. It would have been more fun if you had ridden with Kenna, but you wanted a few more minutes alone. It’s not that you didn’t like the people you were about to party with, they were… a lot. With them being superheroes, they were a lot for you to handle. Especially Tony. He was kind, but he was loud and he loved being the center of attention and often tried to bring you into it as well. He said he was trying to bring you out of your shell.

Once there, you shot a quick text to Kenna letting her know that you were there and began making your way up to the party. Distracted by your phone, you headed towards the elevator. You didn’t notice the person standing in front of you and you walked right into him causing you to fall to the floor.

“I’m so sorry,” you apologized as you tried to stand up from your position on the floor. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.” You looked around for your phone knowing that it couldn’t have gone far.

* * *

As you searched, you heard a chuckle, and only then did you realize that the person you had bumped into hadn’t said anything yet. Halting your search for your phone, your eyes traveled up the stranger in front of you. He was wearing a pair of black combat boots, some dark washed distressed jeans, and a dark grey t-shirt underneath his leather jacket. Your eyes lingered on his chest for a moment before they continued upward when he cleared his throat. Your eyes snapped up to his face. Some of his long hair hung in his face, a few strands covered his eyes but not enough to hide them completely. His lips held a small smirk on them as he watched you look him over.

You took a step back when you noticed how close you were to him. “I’m sorry,” you apologized once again. “I should have been watching where I was going.”

He chuckled, “No problem, we all get distracted sometimes.”

You took another step back and fanned yourself as you nodded. You cocked your head to the side as you continued to watch him. “You look familiar,” you said quirking an eyebrow. “Have we met before?”

His smirk grew into a smile at your question, and he shook his head. “I would remember a face like yours if we had, sweetheart.”

You felt your cheeks heat up and you dropped your eyes back to the ground where you spotted your phone. Bending down, you retrieved it and turned it over to make sure the screen hadn’t cracked.

_Ding_

You jumped a bit when you heard the sound of the elevator open. You glanced back at the man and noticed that he was still smirking at you.

“Ladies first,” he commented once the doors were open and followed you into the elevator.

“What floor?” he inquired when he entered, his hand hovering over the buttons.

“Eleven,” you replied. He chuckled causing you to ask _What_ , but he gave no reply as he pressed the button.

“So you’re headed to Tony’s party as well?” he asked as the elevator began to move.

“My best friend is Pepper’s assistant,” you began to explain. “So I get invited to these parties all the time.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything.

“Are you friends with Tony?” you asked. “I mean since you implied that you were on your way to his party.”

“We’re more like acquaintances,” he explained. “A friend of mine invited me saying that he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. So, here I am.”

“Sounds like someone I know,” you mused. “I was forced to come here tonight. I had my night all planned, but Steve being Steve made me promise that I’d be here. ”

“Steve?” He asked.

“Yeah, Steve Rogers,” you clarified. “He’s one of my best friends. He and Kenna are the only reason why I’m here tonight. Otherwise, I’d be home on my couch watching _The Office_ again.”

The man nodded, a slight smirk on his face.

“Well, looks like this is our floor, Mr… I’m sorry, I never caught your name,” you said as the two of you stepped out of the elevator.

“My name’s James, but everyone calls me-”

“BUCKY!” Steve’s voice boomed from across the room causing the two of you to look his way. “I’m so glad you made it.”

You watched as the two men embraced as if it had been a long time since they last saw each other.

“You didn’t give me much of a choice, Steve,” James, well, Bucky, chuckled in response.

Steve laughed, “I guess I didn’t.”

You stood there for a few seconds, and when you were about to leave, Steve turned and faced you. “Anne!” he all but yelled as he scooped you into a hug and spun you around. “I see you’ve met Bucky,” he commented when he placed you back onto the floor.

It all made sense now. You realized why James looked so familiar. He was Steve’s Bucky. The Bucky that Steve had lost all those years ago. The Bucky that Steve had recently reconnected with. The Bucky from all the pictures, all the stories that Steve had shared with you. You couldn’t believe that you didn’t recognize him. You had spent countless hours looking at pictures with Steve. To be fair, Steve never referred to him as James and he had short hair in Steve’s pictures.

“Yeah, we met in the lobby,” you smiled. “Well, I’m sure Kenna is looking for me. It was nice meeting you, James.” You waved goodbye as you took off to look for your friend.

“That’s Anne?” Bucky asked as they watched you walk away.

Steve nodded, a knowing smirk on his face as he glanced at his longtime friend. “She’s great, isn’t she?”

All Bucky could do was nod his answer, earning a chuckle from Steve. “Come on, let’s go say ‘Hi’ to everyone else.”

oOoOoOo

“You’re here!” Kenna exclaimed as she wrapped you in a tight embrace. When she released you, she looked over your outfit and smiled at your choice.

“Steve’s friend Bucky just got here as well. You’d like him.”

“Yeah, we’ve already met,” you responded.

Kenna quirked an eyebrow at you and waited for you to explain.

“I bumped into him in the lobby, literally, and we rode the elevator up together,” you said with a shrug.

“He’s nice, isn’t he?” she asked.

“I guess, we didn’t talk much unless you consider me apologizing a lot talking.”

“Cute too, huh?”

“Yeah, definitely my type. Ugh, Kenna, really?” you sighed. “Is this why you forced me to come tonight?”

Kenna looked at you and smiled as she continued to drag you through the party. You spotted Tony and Pepper in the opposite direction of where you were headed. You waved to the people that you knew as she continued to drag you through the party. You were thankful when she finally released your arm, and the two of you stood in front of the bar. Kenna ordered the two of you a drink and turned to you.

“Ok, so yes he is part of the reason why I wanted you to come tonight,” she confessed. “I met him before, and I think the two of you are absolutely perfect for each other. And Steve and I started talking and he agrees.”

You shook your head and laughed as you grabbed your drink.

“You even said that he was your type and you haven’t even known him long. Give him a chance, Anne,” she pleaded.

You rolled your eyes and sighed. “Fine.”

She beamed, “Great, now wait a minute, I have to remind Tony of something. I’ll be right back.”

You knew she wasn’t coming back, and you didn’t mind, you were sort of used to it. Grabbing your drink, you turned and faced the party letting your eyes fall over the many faces. It never seemed to amaze you how many people were always invited to Tony’s parties.

“Are his parties always like this?” a voice rumbled next to you.

“Pretty much,” you answered.

“You know, Steve told me about you and how I had to meet you,” Bucky continued as you turned to face him.

“Oh yeah? And what’s the verdict?”

“I’d be a fool to not ask you for your number, sweetheart,” he said as he took out his phone and unlocked it. “And maybe we could go out sometime, get to know each other a little better.”

You smiled as you reached for his phone and entered your name and number.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

oOoOoOo

Giving Bucky your number had been the best decision that you ever made. Kenna had been right, the two of you were perfect for each other. You were exactly what each other needed, and you couldn't ask for anyone better.

About a week after Tony's party, the two of you decided to meet up. You had been talking through texts since the party and hadn't seen each other since, so the two of you agreed on a date. It was simple and sweet. You had met at a coffee shop in the middle of the day, and the two of you spent hours laughing and talking together. It was the best date that you had been on in a long time.

As time went on, you spent more and more time with Bucky and learned a lot about his past. He told you how he had served in WWII with Steve and how Steve had rescued him. He talked about how on that last mission they had together he thought he'd never get to see Steve again. He had talked about his recovery in Wakanda before he came back with Steve. He also talked about how King T'Challa and Princess Shuri saved his life and gave him a fresh start.

As you learned about his past, he learned about yours. You talked about your childhood and your parents. You told him how Kenna was your college roommate and that she was there for you when you needed her the most. You told him how you loved your life now and how you pictured your future.

Spending more time with Bucky also meant spending more time with the Avengers. And before you knew it, you were falling in love with Bucky. You don't remember exactly when you fell in love with him, but you do remember when you realized it.

You two had been dating for almost nine months and you were at Stark Tower once again late on a Friday night. As usual, you were cuddled against Bucky as you watched yet another Disney movie. He knew you enjoyed Disney movies. Even though you had seen most of them enough times to be able to recite them word for word, he still watched them with you. Often reciting the lines right along with you. You two were snuggled together watching The Aristocats, your eyes drooping as the movie played. You were fighting your sleep because you _loved_ this movie and you didn't want to miss a minute of it. But the way Bucky's fingers were massaging your temple, you were losing this fight.

"Doll, it's getting pretty late," Bucky's voice rumbled and you tried to ignore it, but he spoke once more. "Doll, c'mon." He tried to get you to stand up, but you snuggled deeper into his side and fell asleep.

When you woke the next morning, you found yourself tucked into his bed with him right behind you. Your heart swelled at the fact that not only did he carry you to bed, but he managed to get a bonnet on your head while you slept. Knowing that he cared enough to buy you your own bonnet for when you slept over made your heart swell with love. You rolled over and snuggled deeper into his embrace and fell back asleep.

When you woke the second time, Bucky was already awake.

"Mornin' Doll," he smiled as you stretched.

"Morning," you replied and smiled. "Thank you, by the way, for the bonnet. I would've been upset at myself for not sleeping with one."

"Anytime, I know how important your hair is to you," came his reply. "I also have other stuff for you, for ya know, for days like today. I don't want you to feel like you have to rush home when you stay the night. I want you to feel comfortable here, with me. Ya know? And you can spend as much time here as you want, Anne, and... Goodness, I'm rambling."

He sighed and threw his head back against his pillow.

You gazed at him with a smile on your face, you loved when he rambled. He only did it when he was nervous. You found it quite endearing.

“James, I appreciate everything that you’ve done for me,” you whispered as you snuggled closer to him.

It warmed your heart that Bucky wanted you to share his space with him. The days you spent with Bucky were some of the best you’d ever had and you were looking forward to spending more with him.

oOoOoOo

Two years after dating Bucky and you were officially an unofficial Avenger. You spent more time at the compound than you did at your place. Your friendships with the rest of the Avengers got stronger due to you spending so much time around them.

One night after Bucky had come back from a mission, you found yourself in your usual spot cuddled against him while watching a movie.

"How would you like to come to Wakanda with me?" Bucky asked as you were drifting off to sleep.

"Wakanda?" you weren't sure you heard him right.

"Yeah, Shuri's got some updates that she'd like to make, and I would like for you to come with me." He explained before a cloud of uncertainty covered his features, "You don't have to come, I just thought-"

"No!" you exclaimed. "I want to go! When are we going? Who all is going? Do I need a passport? Because I don't have a passport, but I absolutely want to go with you."

Bucky chuckled. "We're leaving in a few days and the entire team is going, so we're taking the Quinjet. No, you do not need a passport, but you should definitely have one."

"Yeah, you should definitely get a passport, Anne," came a voice from behind where you were sitting. "You know, in case lover boy here ever wants to take you on a romantic getaway or something."

"Fuck off, Wilson," Bucky grumbled.

"Anne, I'm serious here. You never know where Bucky's gonna want to take you," Sam continued as he walked past the two of you. "Better be safe than sorry."

You rolled your eyes. "I'll get one when we come back then."

Bucky smiled and kissed your forehead, “Alright, it’s getting late Anne, let’s finish this in the morning.”

“What?” you grimaced. “You can’t ask me to go to Wakanda and then think I'm actually going to sleep. Like, let’s be for real.”

“Anne,” Bucky groaned.

“Nope, you brought this on yourself, James,” you said as you stood up, pulling him up as well. “Since we’re gonna be up all night, we may as well go pack.”

The days leading up to the trip to Wakanda were by far the longest days you had ever experienced. You managed to pack everything you needed within a few hours after Bucky had asked you, and now you had nothing to do.

You were thrilled to see where Bucky had spent his time recovering. As much as he talked about this part of his life, you never thought you would be able to share it with him. You could sense his excitement as well, he kept talking about all the places that he wanted to present to you. How the sunrises and sunsets were beautiful over there and that he couldn't wait to show you. The main place that he desired to take you to was the hut where he lived while he was in Wakanda. Neither of you could wait to spend time together in Wakanda and it showed.

You all had left early in the morning, so early that it was still dark outside. You made sure that you were next to Bucky for the entire ride. You held onto his hand as the Quinjet flew and you fell asleep.

“Anne, wake up,” Bucky whispered as he gently shook you. “You’re gonna miss it.” You could hear the urgency in his voice, and that was what finally brought you out of your sleep. 

As your eyes adjusted, you looked around and noticed that everyone was staring out of the windows. Bucky hauled you out of your seat, and you headed towards the front of the Quinjet. You weren’t certain what you were looking for, all you could recognize were treetops. You turned and looked at Bucky hoping that he’d provide some sort of explanation, but he smiled and turned back to the window.

Scrunching your nose, you did the same, and your eyes widened at the beauty before you. You tried to take in everything around you, but you could only take in so much. The mountains before you rose higher than any you have ever seen. The Quinjet was low enough where you could see shepherds tending to their flocks. You gazed in wonderment as the Quinjet approached a mountain surrounded by treetops.

Wait. Not approach, they were heading straight for it.

You could feel your heart rate speed up the closer you got. Why weren't they turning? What the _fuck_ was going on and why wasn't anyone else freaking out?

"Anne, relax," Bucky whispered beside you. "Watch."

You clung tighter to his arm, your nails digging into his skin as the Quinjet broke through the trees. You gasped as you watched the illusion fade away.

"My goodness," you whispered. The beauty of Wakanda was none like you'd ever seen. Its tall buildings glimmering in the sunlight. The river below you so clear, you swore you could see the bottom of the riverbed. Your heart thrummed with excitement. Looking ahead, you spotted the mountains that surrounded Wakanda, and your heart beat a little faster.

You clung to Bucky in your excitement. "So _this_ is Wakanda?" your voice filled with awe. "You didn't do it justice, Buck. This place is _beyond_ beautiful."

He chuckled, "Tell me something I don't know."

You were at a loss for words. You couldn't wait to get off the Quinjet and explore. As if he could sense your excitement, Bucky began informing you of everything he had planned. He told Shuri that he'd meet with her first, then after her updates were complete, he'd devote the rest of the time to you.

"While I'm with the Princess, you should sleep," he suggested. "I want to make sure that you're well rested for tonight."

You quirked an eyebrow at him. "What do you have planned?" you knew he wouldn't tell you, but you tried anyway.

"You'll see, but make sure you get some rest before tonight, yeah?" he winked at you.

"Ok," you whispered before giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek.  
The two of you were too wrapped up in each other that neither of you noticed that the Quinjet had landed. Your excitement returned as you moved to exit the Quinjet. Bucky aided you with your exit and pulled you along as he greeted his friends.

"And this," Bucky said as he pulled you beside him. "This is Anne. My girlfriend."

"Anne, we've heard so much about you. I'm King T'Challa," he said as he grasped your hand. "But you may call me T'Challa. This is Princess Shuri, my sister, and Queen Ramonda, my mother."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," you gushed. "It's... wow." You possessed no words to describe what you were experiencing.

"Yeah, we get that a lot," T'Challa agreed with a smile on his face. "Since you are a guest of the palace, I have these Kimoyo beads for you. If you decide to visit beyond the palace, they grant you access to almost anywhere. They also double as a form of payment. Just have the shopkeeper scan the beads, and that's it. Unfortunately, I have some matters to tend to, so I must be off."

You thanked him and waved as he walked away and then turned back to Bucky.

"This is absolutely amazing, Bucky. I can't wait to go exploring," you gushed causing Bucky to smile.

He placed an intimate kiss on your lips then placed his forehead against yours. 

"Anne, promise me you'll get some rest before you go out."

"I make no promises, James," you smirked before placing a small kiss to his lips. "Okay, now, are you going to show me where I'm staying before you leave me?"

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Come on."

You skipped along beside him as you entered the palace. Your face lit up with excitement as Bucky led you to your room.

"Now, I'll only be gone for a couple of hours, Doll. You should try getting some rest while I'm gone," Bucky stated once more.

You sighed and pouted a bit, "I guess I could take a nap." You really didn't want to, but since Bucky continued to bring it up, you realized it must be for a good reason.

Bucky placed one last kiss on your lips before he headed out the door. You took in the space around you. It had to be bigger than your entire apartment.

Locating the bathroom, you went in to freshen up and relieve yourself. Once finished, you realized how tired you actually were. 

"Why is he always right?" you mumbled before crawling into bed. You were sleeping soon after.

oOoOoOo

You woke with a start a few hours later with visions of your dream gradually fading away. Your heart was beating rapidly as you tried to remember your dream. The only thing you could remember was that you were standing in a field with ashes swirling around you. You couldn't shake the feeling of dread that filled you as you tried to remember more of your dream, so you chose to forget about it. It was only a dream, right?

You stood and walked to the window and looked around Birnin Zana, or the Golden City, as Bucky had explained to you. You wondered if Kenna was busy. You shot her a text and was glad when she responded that she was free. You changed into something that was comfortable for you to walk around in and headed towards Kenna's room. She was already in the hall waiting for you, and the two of you headed towards the palace doors. This wasn't her first time in Wakanda. She had been here many times, so she knew her way around.

It wasn't a long walk down to the city, but you were thankful that you had worn casual shoes. As you two walked you took in your surroundings and you fell even more in love with Wakanda. Never had you imagined you would be in a place where a majority of the people looked like you. Yeah, you had dreamed of visiting Africa, but you never imagined it would come true. Black people of all shades and sizes surrounded you, and you felt at home.

"It's impressive, isn't it?" Kenna asked, and you knew she felt what you did.

"It is. I feel so... I don't even know what it is, but I like it," you answered. You pointed to a small coffee shop, and the two of you headed in and ordered your drinks. It was nice to be able to spend time alone with Kenna. The two of you hadn't been able to in the last couple of months, and it felt good. When you two finished, you headed back out onto the street where you spotted a dress shop and you all but dragged Kenna to it. You looked around the shop amazed at how beautiful the dresses were. You felt the fabric and sighed at how soft it was. You'd heard rumors about how they wove Vibranium into the fabric of their clothes and wondered how they did it. As the two of you were leaving, you stopped in your tracks as your eyes landed on the most beautiful dress you had ever seen. You walked over to it, your fingers trailed over the delicate fabric. 

You wanted this dress. No, you _needed_ this dress.

"Would you like to try it on, my dear?" the shopkeeper asked seeming to pop out of nowhere.

"I- yes please," you mumbled and watched as she took the dress down from the rack and escorted you to the fitting room. 

The shopkeeper helped you into the dress and as soon as she zipped it up, you were even more in love. You held your breath as you turned and looked into the mirror. The way this dress felt was amazing. You never thought a dress could cause you to feel like this, but shit, you looked good.

"Anne, I wanna see," Kenna whined from beyond the door.

You took a few more moments to look at yourself in the mirror before you stepped out to show Kenna.

When she saw you, her jaw hit the floor. "Damn, girl," she mumbled, her eyes unblinking. "Please tell me that you're getting that dress."

You walked over to the dress platform and stood in front of the mirrors. You did look good, and the dress fit you like a glove. You knew Bucky would love it. 

"How much is it?" you asked still looking at yourself in the mirror as the shopkeeper told you. Your heart stopped and you choked on air when Kenna converted it to USD for you. "I should have _never_ tried on this dress."

You usually always check the price tag before you try on clothes, now you were about to tear out your own heart. There's no way you could bring yourself to spend that much money on a dress, no matter how much you liked it.

"Anne, I know you're probably about to talk yourself out of getting this dress," Kenna's voice sounded. "But hear me out. I think you should get it. I know it's a lot of money _but_ think of it as a gift for yourself. How often do you spend money on yourself? Like, I know you do the whole "Treat yo self" thing, but do you ever do it like they say? Do you ever go all out? No, you don't, and this is the _perfect_ time for you to do so. Trust me, Anne, you won't regret it."

You listened to her reasoning, and she was right. You never really went all out for yourself, and Bucky would fucking _die_ when he saw you in this dress. You chewed your lip for a few more seconds before you nodded. You looked at the Kimoyo beads on your wrist. There was no way you were going to have King T'Challa pay for this dress. Now, if it were Tony, yeah, you'd swipe his card without a second thought.

You were thankful for two things as you handed the shopkeeper your card; one) that they took your card since they had recently opened their borders to outsiders, and two) that you had let your bank know you would be traveling internationally. You couldn't imagine how embarrassed you would have been if your card had gotten declined.

You watched as the shopkeeper wrapped and folded your dress before she placed it into a white box. She tied the box with a large red ribbon and centered the bow in the middle. You were giddy with excitement as you thought about wearing your dress for Bucky. 

After you thanked the shopkeeper, you and Kenna made your way out back to the palace through the congested streets. You were practically skipped with excitement. You couldn't stop thinking about wearing your dress for Bucky.

You bid Kenna farewell before the two of you headed towards your separate rooms. On your way to yours, you practically ran Bucky over trying to get to the door. He captured you by the waist as you turned the corner by your room and helped you steady yourself. 

"There you are, Doll. I've been looking for you," he smiled as he pulled you in for a kiss.

You felt the box that held your new dress begin to crush between the two of you, but you couldn't bring yourself to care. You weren't sure how long the two of you kissed, but when you finally pulled apart, your breath was ragged.

"I guess you missed me," you joked, causing Bucky to grin.

"I guess I did. What's in the box, Sweetheart?" Bucky asked. You had forgotten you were holding it.

"Oh, James, I saw the most beautiful dress today. Like, I've never seen a dress like it, so I bought it," you babbled. "I can't wait to wear it for you, James, you're gonna love it."

"Am I really?" he quirked an eyebrow. "Well, why don't you wear it for me tonight then, when you meet me for dinner at eight."

"Are you asking me out on a date, Mr. Barnes?" you said as you moved more into your room.

"I sure am, sweetheart. And I'm hoping you'll say yes," he replied as he followed you but stopped at the threshold.

You pursed your lips in mock thought. "Well, I _guess_ I'll go on a date with you, Mr. Barnes, if and only if you promise to spend the night with me tonight."

Bucky licked his lips. "How can a man say no to an offer like that?" 

You chuckled and rolled your eyes, "I guess I'll be seeing you at eight then, Mr. Barnes." 

You flashed him a brief smile before gently closing the door. You heard him chuckle before he walked away and headed to his room. You checked the time and noticed you only had two hours before you were to meet him for your date. You deposited your dress on the bed and ran to take a shower. You were going to have so much fun. 

When you completed your shower, you quickly dried off and applied your lotion. Looking in the mirror, you were glad that you had gotten your hair braided before you came to Wakanda. You quickly styled your braids and moved back into the room to get completely dressed. As you took the dress out of the box, you fell in love once again. You stepped into the dress and used a hanger to zip it, then you took another look in the mirror. You still had some time before you had to meet Bucky, so you took some pictures of yourself. That was always the best way for you to waste time. You looked and felt attractive, but you had to keep yourself from sending the pictures to Bucky.

When you had five minutes left, you grabbed your clutch, slipped on your shoes, and headed to meet Bucky. He was waiting for you by the palace doors, and his back was to you. He had his hair styled liked you liked it, half up and in a bun. He wore a dark blue suit that fit him just right, and when he turned to face you, you swore you heard him growl.

He watched as you came closer to him and felt his gaze trail over your body. His bottom lip was stuck between his teeth, and his cheeks were caressed with pink. When you made it to him, he reached out and gently cupped your face with one hand. His eyes traveled across your face ultimately landing on your lips. When he glanced up to your eyes, you nodded, and his lips gently connected with yours. 

You'd exchanged many kisses with Bucky during your relationship. But _these_ kisses, the kisses where he poured all his emotion and love into were your favorite.

Bucky's thumb rubbed your jawline as he kissed you and you leaned into his hand. Pulling back, you smiled when he followed your lips searching for them.

"Hi," you whispered when he opened his eyes once again.

"Hi," he responded, his voice thick. "You look- fuck, you look good, love."

"Thank you," you mumbled as you felt your face heat up. No matter how many times he complimented you, you still got nervous when he did. "You don't look so bad yourself," you threw him a wink and stepped back. Your heart was beating erratically, you needed to place some distance between the two of you before you said, _Fuck it_ and hauled him back to your room.

Placing distance between you wasn't something that Bucky approved of as he followed your movements and stepped closer to you. 

"James, I think we should go," you whispered as you observed the look in his eye. He was prepared to do as you wished and drag you back to his room.

He sighed but nodded, "Ok, let's go, my love." He reached down and took your hand in his before escorting you out the door.

Bucky led you down the palace steps and into an awaiting car. After helping you into the passenger's seat, he placed a kiss on your lips before he walked around to the driver's seat. 

The ride to the restaurant was silent but pleasant. That was one thing that you cherished about Bucky; he was perfectly content with sitting in silence with you. You never felt pressured to talk, just being in each other’s presence was enough. Bucky grasped your hand in his and rubbed his thumb over your knuckles. You were thrilled to finally have this time with Bucky since you hadn't spent much time with him yet. You closed your eyes, and you felt him bring your hands up to his lips and kiss them. The love you felt for this man was immeasurable, but you weren't sure if you'd ever be able to explain or describe it.

When you arrived at the restaurant, Bucky helped you out of the car and held the door as you entered. You gazed around at the establishment and your heart fluttered. The decor of the restaurant embodied the city's beauty, and like you did with the city, you wanted to take it all in.

You and Bucky were led to your table where your food was already waiting for you. Bucky pulled out your chair for you and moved to sit across from you. As you ate, the two of you talked about your day. Bucky described some of the updates that Shuri had made on his arm and you told him about your day with Kenna. 

"May I have this dance?" Bucky asked a few moments after you finished eating.

You nodded and smiled as you placed your hand in his and followed as he led you to stand in front of the fireplace. The two of you swayed to the music, your arms around his neck and your head on his chest. He rested his hands on your hips and kept you pulled flush against him. 

You danced for what seemed like hours, being in Bucky's arms was your favorite place. You felt protected; nothing could ever harm you while you were in his arms. Bucky tilted your head up so that you were looking at him and placed a gentle kiss on your lips. He then pulled back before you could deepen it.

"Ready to get out of here?" He asked, already knowing the answer, and chuckling when you nodded your head fervently.

The day after your date, Bucky took you to the hut he lived in after he had fully recovered. The two of you didn't leave it for an entire week. While there, you watched the sun rise and set over the mountain tops. You cloud watched in the middle of the day and stargazed in the dead of night. You were falling in love with Wakanda more and more every minute you spent there, and you dreaded knowing that you would have to go back to America.

"Oh look who it is," Steve shouted when you and Bucky entered the dining room. Everyone turned to face you and Bucky, and they all laughed.

"Hi, Steve," you giggled as you took your seat and filled your plate. A part of you felt terrible that you had kept Bucky away from the rest of them, but it was an extremely minuscule part.

While you ate, the team talked about what they had been up to that last week. You were listening to Natasha and Tony argue about something when a deafening crash and roar drew everyone from the dining room outside. 

Everyone stood back as they watched the rubble around the newly formed crater shift. Bucky stood in front of you making sure that you weren't in any line of danger, and you clung to Kenna's arm. After a few seconds of watching, you heard Nat gasp before she took off running towards the crater.

"Bruce!" she yelled over and over as she got closer to him. Tony and Steve took off soon after they had realized what was happening and they all helped him get out of the crater.

Those of you that stayed back watched as the others carried Bruce into the palace. You heard him mumbling, but it didn't make sense. All you could make out was "Thanos is coming."

oOoOoOo

You paced in your room as you waited for Bucky to return. It had been about three hours since Bruce had come back. From what you gathered no one had seen him in over two years, so naturally, they were all in shock when he appeared. You were in your room with Kenna as you waited. You didn't like being out of the loop like this, but you weren't an Avenger or Superhero, so you couldn't complain.

Kenna was used to this since she was Pepper's assistant, she knew about things, but she didn't _know_ about them. She only knew what Pepper told her, and she didn't care much about the goings on of the Avengers. She had tried to distract you by trying to convince you to play card games, but your mind was trapped on Bucky. You had so many questions. Questions that you knew you wouldn't get any answers to. Yet.

You opened your mouth to ask Kenna a question, but you were cut off by another loud rumble. You two steadied yourselves as you felt the ground shake.

Once you regained your balance, the two of you ran to the window and looked out. You saw what appeared to be a fireball explode over the city. You screamed as you saw others fall from the sky. They crashed farther away from the city, but something inside you knew whatever was there would get to the city soon.

"Evacuate the city. Engage all defenses," you heard T'Challa's voice yell from down the hall.

You grabbed Kenna's hand and squeezed it; you refused to be separated from her.

Bucky burst through the door; his eyes crazed. "Anne. Kenna. We have to get you two out of here. Now." There was no room for argument in his voice as he grabbed you and Kenna and hauled you out of the room. You ran as fast as you could beside him through the halls of the palace, but you couldn't keep up.

"James, wait!" you cried.

"Anne, we don't have the time," he barked still pulling you along.

"JAMES!" you cried again, yanking your hand from his.

"Anne!" Bucky yelled. "Look, I need to get you somewhere safe, so we have to keep going."

You were breathing heavily trying to catch your breath, but you nodded, and Bucky took off running again, slower this time.

When you finally reached your destination, you were surrounded by Dora Milaje and the Queen Mother and a few others from the palace. Your heart shattered. Bucky was leaving you. Why did that surprise you? It shouldn't have. You began to cry when he looked at you, he didn't need to say anything.

"Anne," he whispered before grabbing your face and looking into your eyes.

You nodded and pressed your cheek into his hand, "I know, Bucky. Be safe."

He gave you a half smile before pressing a gentle kiss to your lips. Your tears began flowing heavier when he pulled away from you. You kept your eyes closed in the hopes that he would still be there when you opened them. You weren't sure how long you stood there crying, but you finally opened your eyes when you felt Kenna pull you in for a hug. The two of you cried together for a while. Not knowing what was happening was the worst part for you. Sure Bucky had been on missions before, but this wasn't a mission. This was something different. Something worse.

You heard another crackle in the sky, this one reminded you of thunder. It was a relief to hear something different than the faint screams of those that were fighting. You wondered if that meant the fighting would soon be over, but there was no way for you to be sure.

The Queen Mother had done everything that she could to make sure that everyone was comfortable. She worried for both of her children. Somehow in the midst of all the fighting, Shuri had managed to send a message through her Kimoyo beads letting her know that she was okay.

Everyone knew that T'Challa was out on the battlefield fighting, but that only made the Queen Mother worry so much more. She tried her hardest to not show her worry, but you could see it.

After what seemed like hours, you felt the palace shake and then silence. It was extremely quiet, and it unnerved you. You looked around for answers, but what answers could you find locked away in a room?

"Queen Mother?" one of the Dora whispered causing everyone to look at her.

Everyone stared in shock as they watched her turn into dust. Gasps filled the room as more of the Dora fell to the same fate, their Vibranium spears clanging to the ground.

You stood in shock as you grasped Kenna tighter. Your mind focusing on one person. "Bucky."

You tore out of the room trying to recall how you got there as you ran through the halls. Once you reached the palace doors, you flung them open and ran towards the field that they had been fighting on. You heard Kenna calling after you, but you disregarded her and pushed yourself to run faster. You felt a stitch begin to form in your side, but you pushed right through it. You needed to get to Bucky.

You ran faster.

You ran past the Dora. Past the Jabari warriors, and past the warriors from the river and border tribes. You tripped over fallen bodies, dead bodies, as you continued to run. You didn't know where you were headed, but you continued.

"Anne!" Kenna yelled much closer this time, so you slowed your running. "Anne, look."

You stopped and turned to face her. "What!" you yelled. She didn't answer, choosing to point instead.

You followed her finger, confused until you saw it. You felt like you were experiencing Deja Vu standing here in this field, surrounded by floating dust.

You turned in a circle as you saw the remaining warriors look around for their brothers and sisters.

"I've gotta find Bucky, Kenna," you whispered but she gripped your arm before you could take another step.

"Anne, you don't know where to begin. You're in no state to search for him," she reasoned. "We should head back to the palace and wait. Come back with me."

She was right. The field was too large for you to search alone. And what if he went back to the palace, and you weren't there? Kenna was right, you needed to go back and Bucky would find you.

You knew that sitting around and waiting for Bucky to return wasn't an option, so you and Kenna helped the Queen Mother and the Dora Milaje search for survivors in the palace. Your first stop was Shuri's lab. You all sighed in relief when you saw her lying near a broken window, but that relief was short lived. She was unconscious, and she had a deep gash on her cheek but she was still breathing. One of the Dora that remained, whose name you learned was Buhle, used her Kimoyo beads to scan and check if Shuri had any other injuries. Buhle lifted the princess and carried her to one of the nearby medical beds. You watched as Queen Ramonda walked over to Shuri and began physically checking her over. She began fiddling with her Kimoyo beads and the room was filled with a steady beeping sound.

"She is stable," Queen Ramonda sighed. "I will stay with her. Go and find my son."

The remaining Dora saluted her before all but two ran out.

"Is there anything you need me to do, Queen Mother?" you asked.

She shook her head, "I will be fine here. You and Ms. Kenna should continue searching for survivors." She began to move around the room searching for supplies. "Take Buhle with you."

Buhle nodded, saluted, then walked over to where you stood with Kenna.

You took one last look at the Queen Mother before the three of you headed out the door. You searched through the entire palace, sending everyone you found straight to Shuri's lab to be checked out. The entire time you were searching through the palace, you were looking for any sign of Bucky. You constantly looked over your shoulder hoping that he would be running up to you any moment, but no such luck. It wasn't until hours late, when you made your way back to the lab that you finally got a chance to rest. As soon as you entered, your eyes scanned the room for Bucky.

You saw Okoye with a stricken look on her face as she stood near the Queen Mother who was frantically wiping tears from her face. You continued looking and you spotted Rhodey, Tony's best friend, sitting on one of the beds near the back of the lab. You also spotted Bruce pacing a few feet away from Rhodey. You could tell that he was mumbling to himself. As your eyes continued to scan, you spotted Nat, a lot of members from the Jabari, River, and Border tribes. Until your eyes finally landed on a familiar face.

Your heart skipped a beat, your head told your legs to move towards him, but your feet wouldn't cooperate. You stood there in shock, your eyes filling up with tears until he looked at you and when he did, the world stopped. He rushed over towards you, careful not to knock anyone over in his haste. He reached you as your knees gave out and kept you from falling to the floor.  
The last thing you remembered before you blacked out, was your name falling from Steve's lips.

oOoOoOo

The effects of what happened were indescribable. Everyone around you had suffered some form of loss. You weren't prepared for it nor did you want to be. This wasn’t something you’d ever dreamed of happening. Everywhere you looked you saw the effects of what happened. From King T'Challa down to the animals. Everything good was… gone.

You’d contacted members of your family back home, hoping that they were somehow alright, but the damage was far-reaching. You’d lost your mother and father and a few other family members. But those that were still alive were relieved to hear from you.

Alive. That’s what you were, if only barely. You hadn’t been taking care of yourself since everything happened. Your main focus was trying to piece together what happened and how it could be fixed.

You'd started sitting in on the Avenger's meetings after what had been named The Snap. From what you'd gathered, Thanos had been murdering his way through the galaxy attempting to restore some sort of balance. He did this by murdering half the population of a planet. From Bruce and Thor, you learned that Thanos had encountered Thor and the people of Asgard while they were on their way to Earth after Asgard had been destroyed. They were able to save some of the Asgardians from the ship when Thanos began his attack.

Thor filled in what Bruce couldn't. He had lost half his people in Thanos's attack on their ship and he was sure that he had lost more. Thor also spent a lot of time beating himself up because he thought he was the reason why Thanos had accomplished his task. Thanos's last words to him before the Snap were, "You should have gone for the head." Thor had repeated that phrase many times since.

Steve filled everyone in as to where Tony was and how he had gone to try to fight Thanos on Thanos’s own turf. He wasn't sure if he was dead or alive.  
Weeks went by since the Snap, and nothing had changed. No one knew where Thanos was or what had happened to him. Thor said that he vanished into a portal after the Snap. There was no telling where he was.

When you weren't with the Avengers or helping others, you were out in the Golden City. The number of the Vanished rose each day that passed. Memorials popped up everywhere, most of them were where the person had vanished. You had never seen so much sadness in your lifetime, nor had you ever felt it. This pain was new to you, and you'd do just about anything to get rid of it.

You weren't surprised when the remaining Avengers talked about returning to America. To be honest, you weren't sure what had taken them so long. You'd thought about staying in Wakanda, but you knew that wouldn't help anything. The one thing that did help was Shuri and the Queen Mother's extended invitation to you saying that you could return anytime you wanted. You knew you were always welcome in Wakanda.

Returning to the Avengers compound after losing so much was hard for you. You didn't feel like you belonged there without Bucky. Your stomach turned when you reached Bucky's room. You had spent so much time there with him, that it felt wrong returning to it without him. You moved around his room, gathering your loose belongings into your duffle bag, then heading towards the door.

It was late as you walked through the halls of the compound, your footsteps muffled against the tile floor. Your hand grasping the strap to your bag as you moved closer to the door. This wasn't where you belonged anymore.

"Anne," Steve's voice called out when you reached out to press the elevator button.

Your shoulders dropped; you should have known that he would show up.

"I know that you need some time, and I'll give it to you," he continued when you didn't speak. "Just know that we're here for you. _I'm_ here for you."

You turned to look at him finally, and that's when you noticed it; his eyes were red and puffy, and his shoulders were slouched.

Your heart cracked.

Steve was suffering the same way you were. He had lost his best friend not once, but three times. He was suffering as well, and he didn't need to do it alone.

"Steve, I'm sorry," you began but stopped when he shook his head.

"There's no need to apologize, Anne," he sighed. "I know you're hurting. I understand. I just want you to know that no matter what, we'll get through this together."

You dropped your bag as your tears began to fall once again. Steve engulfed you into a hug, and you felt his shoulders shake as he began to cry as well. You both clung to each other as you cried and the pain didn't seem so unbearable anymore. You could do this. Your life wasn't over.

"We need to fix this," you mumbled into Steve's chest.

You felt him nod, "Yeah we do, but not tonight."

Steve led you back to Bucky's room and deposited you on the bed. You immediately pressed your face into his pillow and closed your eyes. You heard Steve shuffle towards the door and you called out to him.

"Steve, stay. Please," you begged as you patted the vacant space on the bed. He hesitated for a second but toed off his shoes and laid beside you.

You grasped his hand in yours before you drifted off to sleep.

oOoOoOo

You were convinced that Steve was an angel. His presence immediately calmed those around him, especially you. Between the scans for Thanos and keeping the remaining Avengers together, he managed to grieve with you. The two of you spent more time together now that you were back at the compound and you had moved in. You stayed in Bucky's room for a week, but you couldn't bear being there without him so you moved into your own room. Most nights when you found it hard to sleep, you ended up in Steve's room tucked right into his side so you could get a few hours of sleep.

Tony's return was unexpected, but everyone was relieved to see him when he returned. It had been twenty-three days since anyone had last seen Tony. So when Carol, a newcomer, had brought him back in a broken spaceship, everyone felt a glimmer of hope. Pepper was the most relieved to see him. He was near death as they carried him from the jet, but he was still aware of his surroundings.

The medical team had him hooked up to an IV in no time and their screening showed that he was severely dehydrated. His recovery took days, and Pepper stayed by his side.

While Tony was recovering, they'd finally been able to locate Thanos on a planet far away from Earth. You'd tried to talk your way into going, but everyone was completely against it. They reminded you that you were not equipped to go on a mission such as that.

The day they went, you watched as Thor, Nat, Steve, Carol, and Rocket made their way to Rocket's ship. It had taken them a week to get his ship up and running. You were afraid that they wouldn't return, but you watched as they climbed into the ship and took off. There was nothing you could do but wait for their return.

You tried to keep yourself busy by working on the project that you, Nat, and Kenna had launched. The three of you worked with local and non-local orphanages. There were many orphaned children after the Snap, and they needed places to live and people to take care of them. With so much happening, you couldn't begin to think about the conditions that these children were living in. It took a lot of organization, but you worked fast and efficiently and you had a few orphanages up and running. You had people that worked with children before the Snap working in the orphanages as well. Your goal was to try to get their lives as close to normal as you could.

It was a few days before Steve and the others returned and you could tell that there was tension between them. You wanted to know what happened, but you knew that the time to ask wasn't upon you. Thor brushed right past you, tossing Stormbreaker in the corner before he stormed off to his room. The others followed soon after him and Steve was the only one to stay behind.

You made him a quick meal knowing that he needed a few moments to calm himself.

His voice shocked you when he finally spoke. "Thanos is dead."

You turned and looked at him, "What?"

"Thanos is dead," he repeated. "Thor-" he paused.

"He went for the head, didn't he?" you sighed when he nodded. "So, what does that mean? Do you know where the stones are?"

Steve nodded his head. "Thanos destroyed them."

"So now what?" you asked, taking a seat across from him.

"It's over, Anne." You had never heard Steve sound so defeated and you didn't want to believe it.

You couldn't believe that he was giving up on this. "Steve," you whispered as you reached across the table to hold his hand. "We have to figure out a way to get Bucky back. To bring everyone back. You can't give up."

Steve looked at you and sighed. You watched as his shoulders slumped with that sigh, he released every ounce of fight within him.

"Anne, it's over."

oOoOoOo

Throughout the years, you continued to work with Nat and Kenna with setting up and operating orphanages. Tony funded all of your work which kept many orphanages open and well run.

Shortly after Thor killed Thanos, he found a place where he and his people could start over. They called it New Asgard, and though Tony or any of the others never visited, you did quite often. You visited so often that you had even joked about actually moving there at one point.

Your relationship with Steve remained the same, but as time went on, the need to sleep with each other became nonexistent. You were able to sleep through the night without anyone next to you, and you felt that was an accomplishment. 

Two years after the Snap, you tried dating again, but it didn't feel right. You were at a weird place in your life. You didn't love it, but you didn't hate it either. When Bucky vanished, you felt as if a part of you did as well. You regretted that fact, but no matter how hard you tried, you weren't sure you could get back to where you were.

The memorials displaying the names of the Vanished went up two years after the snap. It took two years to gather everyone's name that vanished. It was hard to view all the names the first time you went to see it, but now you went every time you missed James. You'd visited your family more now than you did before the snap. Visiting the memorial in your hometown was harder because every time you went, you declined Steve or Kenna's invitation to go with you.

You made it back to Wakanda two and a half years after the snap. You had kept in contact with Shuri and Buhle and when you returned, you spent an entire month there. It was everything you remembered. The only thing that could have made it better was if James had been there.

While there, you listened to Shuri brainstorm ways to get everyone back. You happily listened to her ideas and questioned her when things didn't make sense. She would clarify them, but then would often talk herself out of actually trying her ideas.

With T'Challa gone, Wakanda still thrived, but he was dearly missed by his family and people. The country closed its borders after the snap, and they had yet reopened them to those that were not welcome. The Queen Mother took T'Challa's place and no one had the will to challenge for the throne. The Wakandans looked to Queen Ramonda for guidance, and she guided them with grace and pleasure.

Wakanda would forever be your second home. Each time you visited, it got harder and harder to leave. Especially since it was the last place where you saw Bucky. You felt more alive and connected to him while you were there than you did at the compound.

By year three, you were better at controlling your emotions when visiting the memorials. You now went with people when you visited them and you always felt better afterward. When you went with Steve to visit Bucky's memorial, he would often tell you stories of their childhood. You'd heard them before, but you knew it was a part of Steve's grieving process.

By year four, you were splitting your time between New Asgard, Wakanda, and the compound. Really you were spending less time at the compound and more time in New Asgard and Wakanda. You'd become great friends with Brunnhilde as well as Thor since the snap. When Thor introduced you to Brunnhilde a year after the snap, you two became instant friends. When Thor went down the slippery slope of living off alcohol, you and Brunnhilde helped bring him back. It took a while, but you two managed to bring him back. He was now even more active in the lives of his people. Thor was a great king and he loved his people.

By year five you were ready for something new. You'd been working hard maintaining the orphanages with Kenna and Nat. Tony's daughter, Morgan, often ran you ragged when you visited his cabin in the woods. Steve disappeared for days on end and you knew he was searching for something. You worried about him, but he refused to let you in, so you couldn't help him like you wanted to.

You were planning for another trip to Wakanda while you were watching _Meet the Robinsons_. It played in the background as you scrolled through your phone when you got an idea. Surely that wouldn't work, but if it did, you'd have your Bucky back. Everyone would be back. You had to try it.

The moment you landed in Wakanda you hurried straight to Shuri's lab and presented your idea to her.

"Time travel?" she questioned, disbelief in her voice. "Anne, I don't know if that's possible."

"I know, it's just... _something_ has to be done," you pleaded. "Think about it. If we somehow went back to a few days before Thanos destroyed the stones, we could get them from him and bring them back. They said that he was unguarded and weak when they got there."

"Yes, Anne, but what if he was weak because he used the stones a second time?" Shuri reasoned. "There's no telling how weak or strong he was before he used them the second time."

You sat in silence for a while. "What if we went back to a few days after the snap and just observed him. What if we did that a few times, but never the same day, just to see if we can take them from him."

Shuri thought about what you said before she spoke. "What do we do once we have the stones? We don't have our own gauntlet."

"I haven’t gotten that far," you chuckled. "So does this mean you'll do it?"

"It's worth a try," she said as she nodded. "It's going to take a while for me to even make a time machine." She had already begun sketching and drawing plans for her time machine as she talked. "Anne," she called as you got up to leave. "I need you to collect all the dates. The day the snap happened, the days we need to visit, the day the second snap happened, and when they killed Thanos."

You nodded and walked out. It seems that your visit to Wakanda had been cut short.

oOoOoOo

One thing you'd never been good at was subtlety. No matter how hard you tried, you could never pull it off. As soon as you stepped off the Quinjet Steve was immediately suspicious. You'd never cut your trips to Wakanda short. You had only been there for two days and you were supposed to be there for three weeks. You'd barely made it into the compound before he started questioning you. You let him ask his questions, feeding him with _I’ll be going back soon_ , and _There were some things that I needed to bring Shuri,_ and _No, she couldn’t go without them._

Your first mind was to go to New Asgard to speak to Thor instead of going to the compound, but you had gone against that thought. You knew the information was hidden in the server and you didn't have access to those files.

Shit. How were you going to get access to files that you didn't have access to? You sure as hell couldn't ask Steve, that was completely out of the question. You hated encroaching on Tony's family time. Bruce was off somewhere doing who knew what. So that only left Nat.

You headed to her room, thankful that Steve didn't follow you. You had to get the dates from Nat without telling her what you and Shuri were going to do.

"You're back early," she laughed as you plopped down on her bed.

You laughed, "Yeah, I kind of need a favor from you, but you can't ask why."

She looked at you as if you'd grown a second head. "And to that, I'm going to say 'No'."

"What if I told you that I could possibly change everything with this information that we both know you're going to give me."

She looked at you with disbelieving eyes as she tried to figure out what you were up to. "You know you're going to tell me anyway, so why don't you just get it over with, Anne."

You rolled your eyes, "Fine. Shuri and I may have found out a way to bring everyone back and we need access to the database to find the dates that we're looking for."

Nat continued to watch you when you finished speaking. "You're fucking crazy, Anne."

You shrugged, "Yeah, so are you going to help me or not?"

"I'll help you, but you have to know that I'm not letting the two of you do this alone. Tony and Steve would have a fit if they found out," she responded as she stood up and led you out of the room.

You watched as Nat logged into the computer and search for the information that you needed. She quickly scribbled down dates and times for you, as well as the coordinates to the planet that Thanos had vanished to.

"So what are the two of you planning to do after this?" Natasha asked without looking at you.

You shrugged your shoulders, "I don't know. We hadn't gotten that far."

"Of course not," she chuckled. "Look, if this plan does work, you need to know your next steps."

"We just want to know if it's possible, Nat. We gotta try," your voice was small, you knew you needed to think more about the plan, but you needed to know if it was possible before you could work through any next steps.

She didn't press anymore as she continued to search for dates and times for you. After a while, Nat had gathered all the information that you needed and it was neatly written on a sheet of paper. She copied it for you, just in case, and then convinced you to sleep before you headed back to Wakanda.

True to her word, Natasha was not going to let you and Shuri complete your task alone and she accompanied you back to Wakanda.

Upon your arrival, you were greeted with multiple surprises. In just a short time, Shuri had figured out and perfected the time travel aspect of your plan. She had also built your time travel devices; they looked like watches and were powered by Vibranium. Also, just as Natasha had convinced you to let her come, Buhle had done the same to Shuri. Honestly, you knew deep down that you would need these two, and it was foolish to not include them from the beginning.

The four of you spent the next few days planning and memorizing your plans. You were going to observe Thanos multiple times before he destroyed the stones. The day before he is set to destroy them, you all are going to steal them from him and bring them back to Wakanda.

“What are we going to do once we have the stones?” Nat asked one day while the four of you were taking a break.

“I’m not sure what we should do,” you responded.

“We need our own gauntlet, so we can bring everyone back,” Shuri remarked.

“Who would do it? I’m not sure any of us will be able to survive it,” Buhle added.

That was your biggest problem, and you weren’t sure how to solve it. How could you bring everyone back if you didn’t have a way to bring everyone back. It’s not like you could trick Thanos into reversing what he did. And even if you tried, there was a chance that you could make things worse. How does one person, one human, give enough strength to undo what Thanos did?

Shuri began to pace the room. “Does it have to be a living thing though?” she mused. “What if we built something, a machine that could do the actual snap for us.

“But how would it be powered?” came your reply.

“We could power it with Vibranium,” Shuri continued. “We have enough of it here, and surely I can code it so that it brings everyone back.”

“Would the Queen Mother approve of this?” you asked.

“If it meant bringing my brother and everyone else back, yes. I believe she would.”

“What do you two think?” you asked turning to Natasha and Buhle.

They looked at each other for a few seconds before Buhle spoke. “It could work. Princess Shuri is the smartest person I know, I’m sure she could build a machine that would serve our purpose.”

Nat nodded her head. “Shuri, you should build the machine before we go. That way as soon as we get back, we can bring everyone back and not waste any time.”

“I don’t agree,” you countered. “We should go get the stones now and bring them back here.”

“Anne, what’s the difference of waiting a few weeks now, and waiting a few weeks when we get back?” Shuri questioned.

“If we don’t destroy them as soon as we get back, then we’re just inviting danger to happen.” Buhle tried to reason. “What if someone found out what we’re doing and they managed to get their hands on the stones? Then what? We’d be worse off than we were before. Plus, we could all use a break. We’ve been planning nonstop.”

“I agree partially,” Shuri interjected. “We should wait, but while we are waiting, we should stick to our plan. We need to finish this now.”

You sighed but agreed. It was for the best.

“We need to get my mother to approve our usage of Vibranium,” Shuri mumbled. “Anne come with me. Buhle and Natasha, we’ll be right back.”

Shuri led you out of the room at a brisk pace. She was headed towards an area of the palace that you had never been to.

“Where are we going, Shuri?” you were a bit nervous.

“We’re going to convince my mother. Not that she’ll need much convincing,” she smirked. “My mother loves you, Anne. did you know that?”

You shook your head.

“She absolutely adores you,” she continued. “Something about how you helped search for survivors right after the Snap. You never noticed that she extended you an invitation to come, and no one else, even though they always come with you? I’m sure if we both talk to her, she’ll say yes.”

“Say yes to what?”

The two of you stopped in your tracks and turned around.

“Mother, how are you this evening?” Shuri asked.

“Say yes to what?” Queen Ramonda repeated.

“Is there somewhere the three of us could talk? Privately?” you asked.

She smiled before ushering you into a room. The three of you sat around a table before you began to speak.

“We think we may have found a way to bring everyone back,” you stated.

Queen Ramonda’s eyes bulged, “What do you mean?”

“We’re not 100% sure on this,” Shuri continued. “But we believe that we can go back and fix what happened. Well, not fix it, but bring everyone back to the current timeline. The only thing is, we’ll need to use some Vibranium. I’m not sure how much, but-”

“Of course you can,” the Queen blurted. “I’m sorry, my child.”

“No worries, Mother.”

“Is there anything else you need? Anything and it’s yours.”

The two of you shook your heads before she grasped your hands and squeezed them. “I know that this is a big maybe, but I believe in the two of you. Whatever you have planned must be something truly spectacular. I have faith that you can do this.”

Your heart clenched. What if you couldn’t bring them back? What if this was a waste of time? No. you wouldn’t dwell on those thoughts. The four of you would bring everyone back.

You smiled. “We’ll bring them back,” you promised.

oOoOoOo

Helping Shuri build the machine helped ease your worries about everything going on. You all were so close to bringing everyone back and you could feel the excitement starting to build. While you all built the machine, you continued laying plans. As you all got closer to finishing the machine, you began actually doing run-throughs and surveillance.

Your first trips were to survey the land. You knew that it was just him on the planet, he had no defense systems set up. It was just a matter of figuring out when he was most vulnerable.

As the day to set your plan into motion came closer, you became more nervous. You weren't nervous about it not working, you were more nervous about it actually working. Would Bucky still want to be with you? How would everyone fit back into a society that moved on without them?

Time travel was an awful experience, and each time you experienced it, you never wanted to do it again.

Your first time through went perfectly. Everyone made it there and back and you got more information on Thanos that you'd originally planned. The second and third times were horrible due to the traveling itself because you knew what it felt like, yet you still put yourself through it. By the sixth time, you were all convinced that you had enough information on Thanos to take the stones.

When the actual day came, your nervousness had calmed quite a bit and you were ready to face whatever the future brought you. You smiled as Shuri, Buhle, and Nat all put on their watches and synced up the time. Nat had miniaturized the Quinjet and it was safely tucked into her pocket. The four of you smiled at each other and hoped that this worked.

"See you in a minute," Nat said before Shuri began the count down.

_"FIVE"_

_"FOUR"_

_"THREE"_

_"TWO"_

_"ONE"_

You felt as if you were being sucked through a straw, you should have been used to it by now, but you weren't. When you all landed you were still in Wakanda, but it was 10 days post snap instead of five years. You all walked to an abandoned field where you knew no one would be and Nat released the Quinjet and enlarged it.

You all boarded the jet, and Nat took the pilots seat before making sure everyone was ready. Once everyone was buckled in, Nat started the engine and took off. You braced yourself. This was it. The moment you had been waiting and preparing for. You gripped the armrest of your seat and drummed your fingers.

You reached The Garden in record time, and Nat landed the Quinjet far away from Thanos’s hut. The four of you climbed out of the jet and made your way to your positions. Stealing the stones at night while Thanos slept was thought to be the best way to do this.

During your stakeouts, you found that Thanos never took the gauntlet off, he rarely used that hand. 

You all had arrived before the sun began to set and so you had to wait a few hours before you could put your plan into action.

By the time you made it to Thanos’s hut, the sun had set and you were ready. You all crept up the stairs and entered his house. Your heart was beating so hard, you were sure everyone could hear it.

As you crept closer to Thanos’s sleeping form, you got the sudden urge to do more than take the stones. How could you let him survive after all the pain he caused?

As if sensing your thoughts, Nat stepped in front of you, cutting off your view to him. She threw you a glance over your shoulder mouthing _Pull yourself together_. She gave you a few seconds to gather yourself before stepping aside and letting you resume your task.

Everyone stood guard, their weapons pointed towards Thanos just in case. Your hands shook as you reached for the gauntlet. You could feel the power that radiated from it even before you touched it.

You steadied your breathing before you removed the first stone, the purple Power Stone, before placing it in a glass container. You’d thought about this before you left your original time. You didn’t want to chance the stones reacting to each other during your travel, so you brought separate containers for them.  
You were relieved when Thanos didn’t move as you removed the first stone, but now was not the time for celebrating. You still had five more stones to remove.

Moving at a quicker pace, you moved to the second stone, the blue Space Stone. This one was just as easy to remove. You wondered if the ease had anything to do with how easy or difficult it was for Thanos to acquire each stone. Keeping your pace steady, you placed the Space Stone in its container and moved on.

When you pulled the Reality stone from the gauntlet, it morphed from its stone shape into a sludge. You had to work even faster to get it into its container. It was a bit hard to get the sludge into the container, it felt as if the sludge was trying to attach itself to you. You began to panic; you didn’t know what it would do to you but you managed to get it all in.

Three stones out, three more to go.

You were beginning to sweat as you moved on to the orange Soul Stone. This one was more difficult to remove. Your hands shook more than they did in the beginning and Thanos shifted in his sleep. You wondered if he was going to wake up. What would you do if he did? He would surely kill you without a second thought. But you continued on. You nearly had the stone out when Thanos shifted once again causing you to jerk the stone out rougher than you had intended to. You froze and clutched onto the stone; you didn't want to make any movements in case he wasn’t fully asleep. After listening to him breathe for a full two minutes, you placed the stone into its container.

Moving on to the Time Stone, you were getting antsy. You were down to the last two and you were ready to be done. As you worked, you thought about what would happen when you were finally done. Your breathing quickened because this stone was the hardest to extract. You spent more time trying to extract the time stone than you did on any of the other stones combined, but you got it out. Thanos grunted when the stone gave way.

You had half a mind to yank the Mind Stone from the gauntlet and run for it, but you didn’t come this far to mess everything up. You held your breath as you worked on the Mind Stone. You chewed on your bottom lip as you worked. At this moment, you wanted nothing more than for this to be over. And suddenly, it was. The Mind Stone was free from the gauntlet. You held it in your hand and examined it before placing it in its container. Never had you been so scared in your life.

You moved away from Thanos and wondered how you had managed to get through this and come out alive. However, you would rather dwell on that thought in your own home rather than his.

The four of you inched out of his house as quietly as you had entered and made your way back to the Quinjet. You still couldn’t believe that you had accomplished your task. Nat took off from the foreign planet, and none of you looked back.

When you made it back to Wakanda, Nat shrunk the Quinjet, and the four of you took a breather. You were still running on adrenaline, and you weren’t sure how long it would last. You didn’t care since you completed your mission. Shuri led you all to an area in the palace that wasn’t used much so you all could gather your strength for the last part.

“How do we let them know where Thanos is now?” you brought the question up hoping that someone had come up with an answer because you didn't have one.

They let the question hang in the air. How could you let the Avengers know where Thanos was now that you had taken the stones? You only had a few hours before they were supposed to go kill him.

“What if we hacked into the Stark server and left the clues,” Shuri suggested as she walked towards a desk. She pulled up a holographic computer and began typing. “Even though this isn’t my ‘time’, I still have access to everything. I can hack in through here and if you give me a minute, I can set up a puzzle that will tell them where to find Thanos.”

The rest of you watched as she typed away, often smiling and mumbling to herself.

“There, they’ve figured out that they’ve been hacked and they’re trying to solve the puzzle,” she stated triumphantly. “It shouldn’t take them more than an hour to figure out. Less if it’s Stark trying to figure it out.”

You chuckled, “Wow.”

“Yeah, I know,” she replied. “Ready to go home?” she stood, and the rest of you followed.

You synced your watches and traveled back to your correct time. The feeling of being sucked through a straw for the last time still sucked, but you were excited that it was the last time.

When you landed back in your time, you let out a sigh of relief. How you all managed to get the stones without waking Thanos _and_ get back to your time without dying was a surprise to you.

You checked on the stones, making sure they were real and that you hadn’t hallucinated the entire thing. Seeing them, there, in your hands in Shuri’s lab made everything real.

“Anne?” Nat’s voice brought you out of your thoughts. She watched you with a worried look on her face. “Are you alright?”

“I can’t believe we did it. I mean, we actually did it,” you cried.

“Now all we have to do is finish what we started,” Shuri stated as she reached for the containers that held the stones. You gave them to her and followed her to the machine.

“Shuri?” you asked as you watched her place the stones into the machine. “Did you ever think of a name for this thing?”

She smirked and glanced at you, “I did, yes. I call it…” she paused for a few seconds. “ _The Reverser_ ,” she smiled, her shoulders shaking as she tried to hold back her laughter. “You know because it’s going to _reverse_ the snap.”

You, Nat, and Buhle rolled your eyes as Shuri laughed at her joke.

“You asked,” she said when she finished laughing. Shuri continued working on putting the stones into the Reverser as the rest of you watched. She moved quickly placing each stone in its designated spot.

When she was done, she stood back and you all watched as the Reverser began to glow. The light emanating from it grew steadily brighter until you were unable to look at it anymore. The room grew warmer by the second, and you reached out to hold on to something, anything.

“What’s happening!” you yelled as you began flailing your arms, searching.

You heard Nat scream as Shuri called out Buhle’s name. You couldn’t believe that this was how you were going to die. After all that work to bring everyone back, you were going to die before you got the chance to see it through.

Your head throbbed, the heat began to become unbearable and you were dripping with sweat, but just as fast as it started, it stopped. The temperature of the room was back to normal, and you could see again.

“What the hell was that?” Nat groaned as she slowly stood from her spot on the floor.

You looked around the room to try to find some sort of answer, but you were met with none. The Reverser was still where Shuri left it, only it wasn’t glowing anymore and all the stones were dull.

“It didn’t work,” you cried as you ran forward.

“That’s not possible,” Shuri mumbled as she stumbled up beside you. “There’s no way that didn’t work!” She checked the Reverser, took the stones out and replaced them in a different order, but their light didn’t return.

Your heart sank, that had been your only shot at bringing everyone back and it didn’t work. You didn’t even know that you wouldn’t get a second chance, you all had put everything into this task, and to come up empty-handed was gut-wrenching.

You turned and faced the others, and as you were about to speak, you were cut off by a series of shrieks. The four of you rushed from Shuri’s lab, through the hallways of the palace and out the door. What greeted you made your heart skip a few beats. Out in the field where the battle had originally taken place, you watched as many people reappeared. You heard more shrieks come from the palace and watched as Shuri and Buhle ran back inside.

Nat took hold of your arm and squeezed. “Anne, it worked!” she yelled.

You watched over the field, tears falling from your eyes. “It worked,” you whispered. It amazed you that a freaking Disney movie gave you the idea and even more so that Shuri brought your idea to life. This wouldn’t have been possible without her.

Your excitement grew, and before you knew it, you had begun walking towards the field. You heard Natasha calling your name and you responded by telling her to get the Dora Milaje. Your feet began moving faster until you broke out into a run and headed straight for the field. As you ran, you yelled for the warriors to head to the palace. When you stumbled upon an injured warrior, you helped them as best as you could before you grabbed someone to help them to the palace. You were soon joined by the Dora and a few healers that worked near the palace.

As you helped those around you, you searched for familiar faces amongst the crowd. After a while, you spotted Wanda stumbling through the trees on the edge of the field. She was soon joined by Sam, and you couldn’t believe it. You took off running towards them, calling their names as you ran. You heard footsteps nearing you before Okoye, Ayo and the Dora Milaje sped past you and into the trees. You reached Sam and Wanda and embraced them in tight hugs before checking them over for injuries.

“I thought I'd never see you two again,” you cried.

“Anne, what happened?” Sam asked. “We were in the middle of fighting, and now we’re here.”

“Sam,” you choked out. “It’s a long story. One that I’ll tell you, but I have to find Bucky”

“Anne, what’s going on?” Wanda finally spoke up as she looked around the field.

“I can’t right now, please help me find Bucky,” you pleaded. And the three of you took off running into the trees.

As the three of you searched, you heard a few of the Dora yell out for T’Challa. You suspected that Okoye had led them to where he vanished, hoping that he would be there waiting for them.

Your running quickly turned into walking when you felt a stitch begin to form in your side. You had no clue where to start looking for Bucky. You called out his name for what felt like hours. Wanda and Sam had to convince you to head back to the palace. The voices of the Dora searching for T’Challa had long ago ended. You had begun to worry that only some people had come back. If that were the case, and Bucky or T’Challa wasn’t part of them, then you’d have to find some other way of getting them back. You had made a promise to the Queen Mother, one that you intended to keep by any means necessary.

As you walked back to the palace, you began filling Sam and Wanda in on what happened. You told them about how Thanos had succeeded in eliminating half of the universe five years ago and how they had been some of those that were lost. You talked about how you spent those five years wishing that it had been you instead of Bucky because so much of his life had been taken from him already.

Sam and Wanda stayed quite through your recount of the last five years and before you knew it, you were walking up the palace steps and through the doors.

“And the worst part is,” you began as you wiped away a few tears. “Is that I never got to tell him that I love him, ya know.” You stopped walking and sighed.

“I don’t know how I’m gonna get him back. I thought this was it.”

Neither of them spoke as you cried. Even surrounded by people, you felt alone.

“We should get you to Shuri’s lab and get you checked out,” you said trying to change the subject and you began walking once more.

“You love me, huh?”

You froze. Surely you weren’t imagining things. You held your breath as you slowly turned around.

You felt your heart burst the moment your eyes connected with his and newly formed tears began to fall.

“James?” you whispered. You wanted to reach for him, but you couldn’t move.

You were dreaming, you had to be.

The smile that spread across his face was the same one that you had been dreaming of for years. He reached out and caressed your cheek and feeling his hand on your face was all you needed to realize that he was actually standing in front of you.

You grabbed his jacket and pulled him flush against you and your lips crashed into his. This was the moment you had been dreaming of for the last five years, and it was finally coming true. At that moment, nothing else mattered but you and Bucky. You were elated that your plan had worked, you had your Bucky back, and the world was all right now.

All too soon, Bucky pulled away from the kiss and rested his forehead against yours. Your breath was ragged and so was his which caused you to smile.

“For what it’s worth,” Bucky said with a smile. “I love you too.” 


End file.
